I’m not an enormous fan of running. Yes I see the benefits of it, but I’ve never been one of those people that enjoys just going out for a run. Hey let’s go run a 10K, it’s not something you’ll hear should I call you. Let’s go do some fast exercising, is. That being said I recently read an interesting article on The Poliquin Group’s website regarding sprinting. Now I know it’s not the same as a lengthy distance run, but after reading the article and reading the benefits, I’m convincing myself that running might be more fun than I thought.

I digress. Here are some great benefits to sprinting. Sprints, help you lose fat, build muscle, improve your health, and can come in handy when you need to run away from someone. That last one may be specifically for me only.

Here are some bullet points from the article. For the full article and studies referenced click HERE.

Sprints help you lose fat and not only that, but they do it in a short amount of time. Here’s some facts from a 2010 study. Participants in the study ran 6 sprint sessions of 6 30 second full effort sprints with 4 minutes of rest between. The average waist size dropped by 3 cm in that time.

Sprints help you build muscle by increasing the fast twitch fibers and studies have shown that sprinting enhances protein synthesis pathways by as much as 230 percent. Sprinting can also increase testosterone levels and decrease cortisol levels which is a desired balance when looking to increase muscle and decrease fat. Women won’t see the same increase in testosterone but will see increase in growth hormone levels, burn fat, and help build muscle.

There are many additional benefits to sprint training including; improved cognition and brain function, improved circulation and lung function, improved insulin sensitivity and energy use. Click the bold link above for all the benefits to sprint training.

Later this week, there is a workout that involves a form of sprinting. Based on the information in the article and the bullet points above, make sure you give an all out effort during the sprint portion of the workout to experience the benefits.